v3.6.0.2

Income Taxes Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Income before Income Tax, Domestic and Foreign

The jurisdictional components of income from continuing operations before income tax expense (benefit), attributable to Calpine, for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, are as follows (in millions):

	2016				2015				2014
U.S.	$	116			$	133			$	942
International	24				26				26
Total	$	140			$	159			$	968

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

The components of income tax expense (benefit) from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, consisted of the following (in millions):

	2016				2015				2014
Current:
Federal	$	(10	)		$	(1	)		$	(1	)
State	14				10				19
Foreign	1				2				(1		)
Total current	5				11				17
Deferred:
Federal	10				(21		)		—
State	27				1				(1		)
Foreign	6				(67		)		6
Total deferred	43				(87		)		5
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	48			$	(76	)		$	22

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

A reconciliation of the federal statutory rate of 35% to our effective rate from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, is as follows:

	2016			2015			2014
Federal statutory tax expense (benefit) rate	35.0	%		35.0	%		35.0	%
State tax expense, net of federal benefit	19.4			5.1			1.9
Valuation allowances against future tax benefits	(25.0	)		(46.0	)		(35.8	)
Valuation allowance related to foreign taxes	(0.1	)		(49.4	)		—
Distributions from foreign affiliates and foreign taxes	(0.6	)		3.1			1.2
Change in unrecognized tax benefits	(0.1	)		1.2			(0.4	)
Disallowed compensation	0.9			3.1			0.1
Stock-based compensation	2.2			0.6			0.1
Equity earnings	2.0			(0.5	)		—
Other differences	0.6			—			0.2
Effective income tax expense (benefit) rate	34.3	%		(47.8	)%		2.3	%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The components of deferred income taxes as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, are as follows (in millions):

	2016				2015
Deferred tax assets:
NOL and credit carryforwards	$	2,728			$	2,842
Taxes related to risk management activities and derivatives	38				53
Reorganization items and impairments	222				212
Deferred tax assets before valuation allowance	2,988				3,107
Valuation allowance	(1,581		)		(1,637		)
Total deferred tax assets	1,407				1,470
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment	(1,266		)		(1,377		)
Other differences	(93		)		(3		)
Total deferred tax liabilities	(1,359		)		(1,380		)
Net deferred tax asset	48				90
Less: Non-current deferred tax liability	(14		)		—
Deferred income tax asset, non-current	$	62			$	90

Schedule of Income Tax Contingencies

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amounts of our unrecognized tax benefits for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, is as follows (in millions):

	2016				2015				2014
Balance, beginning of period	$	(58	)		$	(56	)		$	(68	)
Increases related to prior year tax positions	—				—				(4		)
Decreases related to prior year tax positions	1				3				8
Increases related to current year tax positions	(2		)		(5		)		—
Decreases related to settlements	—				—				8
Balance, end of period	$	(59	)		$	(58	)		$	(56	)

X

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeTaxDisclosureAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of the components of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for each year presented including, but not limited to: current tax expense (benefit), deferred tax expense (benefit), investment tax credits, government grants, the benefits of operating loss carryforwards, tax expense that results from allocating certain tax benefits either directly to contributed capital or to reduce goodwill or other noncurrent intangible assets of an acquired entity, adjustments of a deferred tax liability or asset for enacted changes in tax laws or rates or a change in the tax status of the entity, and adjustments of the beginning-of-the-year balances of a valuation allowance because of a change in circumstances that causes a change in judgment about the realizability of the related deferred tax asset in future years.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 9
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65882285&loc=d3e32639-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfComponentsOfIncomeTaxExpenseBenefitTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of the components of net deferred tax asset or liability recognized in an entity's statement of financial position, including the following: the total of all deferred tax liabilities, the total of all deferred tax assets, the total valuation allowance recognized for deferred tax assets.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65882285&loc=d3e32537-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfDeferredTaxAssetsAndLiabilitiesTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of the reconciliation using percentage or dollar amounts of the reported amount of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for the year to the amount of income tax expense that would result from applying domestic federal statutory tax rates to pretax income from continuing operations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 12
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65882285&loc=d3e32687-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of income before income tax between domestic and foreign jurisdictions.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(h)(1)(i))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfIncomeBeforeIncomeTaxDomesticAndForeignTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Tabular disclosure for tax positions taken in the tax returns filed or to be filed for which it is more likely than not that the tax position will not be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities and other income tax contingencies. Includes, but is not limited to, interest and penalties, reconciliation of unrecognized tax benefits, unrecognized tax benefits that would affect the effective tax rate, tax years that remain subject to examination by tax jurisdictions, and information about positions for which it is reasonably possible that amounts unrecognized will significantly change within 12 months.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 15A
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65882285&loc=SL6600010-109319

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 15
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65882285&loc=d3e32718-109319

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 19
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65882285&loc=d3e32840-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SummaryOfIncomeTaxContingenciesTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration